


Walking on Mines & Power Lines

by Oneidless (Noellalee)



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Slow Burn, Smut, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-15 06:11:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8045368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noellalee/pseuds/Oneidless
Summary: When you originally went to work in the Ukraine, you never expected to meet the man that would change your life forever. You especially didn’t expect to have the adventure of your life, to be beat, shot, kidnapped and fearing for your life. To top it all off you never expected the man from the Ukraine to introduce you to a man almost twice your age that you would quickly fall head over heals for.





	1. Prologue

You were working abroad, but during your short time in the Ukraine, riots broke out and a revolution began, causing an ongoing conflict throughout the country and the surrounding areas. People were fighting for what they believed in and for what they wanted from their government. A part of you was terrified as you watched friends and strangers be shot and brutally beat in the street. You couldn’t leave just yet because you felt you needed to help the people around you in anyway you could. 

You were on your way back to your apartment while trying to avoid as many open streets and people as possible. Not paying complete attention since you were looking behind to see if anyone was behind you when you ran into someone.

The impact caused you to fall and hit the ground with an ‘oooff’, only to look up to see a tall man standing over you. Scrambling back on your hands to get away from his as soon as possible but he puts his hands up in front of him and begins to speak. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just trying to get back to my hotel.”

You can help but look up at him slightly in shock since you weren’t expecting anyone to speak English to you, especially on their first encounter. The dark haired man clears his throat and you can see him thinking for a moment before speaking out again, “ya ne sobirayus prichinya tebe bol”

You feel the tension break between the two of you as you let out a laugh. He looks at you in confusion and possibly slightly insulted before you have a chance to explain yourself. “Sorry, but your Russian sucks. It’s nice to run into another English speaker in this dire moment.”

He extends his hands down to grab yours and helps you back onto your feet. “I was trying to speak Ukrainian.”

“Ha!” The man glares at you for a second time for laughing at him. “They’re close but not that close. Nice to meet you. I’m (y/n). The two languages are different enough to make you sound like a total noob.”

He looks even more offended than before. His eyebrows scrunch before he speaks up, “Rafe. And I’m not a total noob. Never was, never will be.”

“Okay Rafe, whatever you say. Nice to meet you but why don’t we get out of here because I see a large group of police coming our way.”

Rafe turns around and looks behind him before turning back around and pushing you forward. “Good idea. This is my first time here and I’m just trying to get back to my hotel without getting caught in this mess.”

“Which hotel?”

“The 11 Design.”

“Yeah, you’re not going to be getting anywhere near your hotel tonight.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s located close to the square where the center of the revolution is happening. Besides, I’m pretty sure everything is on fire, there are snipers all around the square and it’s not a safe place for tourists to be.”

“I don’t know where else to go and none of my contacts will come anywhere near here.”

“You can stay with me, at my apartment tonight, but I suggest you get the hell out of here tomorrow morning. I have a few contacts who can get you to Hungary, and then you are on your own.”

Rafe nods his head in agreement and you grab his hand to drag him along behind you. The two of you duck into alleyways and climb up people’s fire escapes to avoid the police and crowds of people.

“One final climb up this fire escape and we’ll be at my apartment.”

“Why can’t get just go through the front door?”

“Because it’s barricaded.”

Rafe looks at you and his lips make a small ‘oh’ but no sound comes out. You get Rafe to boost you up so you can grab a hold of the ladder to drop it down. You’re half way up when you hear him let out a groan of pain and you turn to see him fall down to the ground. Looking over, you see police officers coming your way and one with his gun out. You now understand why Rafe is clutching his leg and blood is pooling out of his thigh.

There is no way you can fight off three armed men, therefore, Rafe is going to have to wait a moment until you can think of a plan. Climbing up quickly as you can up the rest of the fire escape and you break the window of your apartment. Running into the kitchen you grab the vodka bottle off the counter and the dish towel off the oven door. You proceed to run into your living room and dump a box and all its contents out onto the floor until you find the lighter. While running back to the fire escape you place the dish towel into the vodka bottle and light the other end on fire. 

“Rafe! Roll!”

He rolls to your right, away from the police and you throw the bottle towards the police, nearly missing them. The bottle and its contents explode in a fiery eruption. It knocks one over and he is unmoving while the others are distracted. This gives you the distraction you need to jump down and tackle the one closing in on Rafe. Your body weight hitting him from above causes him to fall and he hits his head against the road, knocking him out. You run towards the other officer facing you and jump onto him, trying to knock him over. It’s sad how unsuccessful you are since he is much larger than you. He throws you off and you hit the wall next to Rafe causing all the air in your lungs to leave. You take a moment to catch your breath but by that time the very large and angry police officer is standing above you about to do god knows what. Before he can do anything, you swing your feet and kick him the back of the knees causing him to go down. He rolls over and all you see if Rafe get on top of him and continue to beat the man unconscious.

When Rafe is done, both of you lay there on the ground, covered in dirt and blood, trying to catch your breath. You both sit there for a moment before you break the silence, “think you can climb up the ladder?”

“Yes.”

You stand up and help Rafe up but he lets out a groan of pain whenever he needs to put pressure his injured leg. After a bit of a struggle you both manage to make it into the apartment and you place him on the couch while you go get medical supplies and sew up the bullet wound.

“Good thing it was a through and through.”

“How they hell did you know how to do that?”

“Uhhh… from a friend. Anyways you should be good but try not to rip open your stitches.”

“Thank you.”

You and Rafe sat there in silence for a bit of time before you got up and went into the kitchen to begin making some food for the two of you.

“I contacted Alexi to let him know that I need someone evacuated out. It might make things more difficult now that you’re injured, but he’s the best damn smuggler I know.” You look back into the living room to see Rafe raise his eyebrows but he doesn’t say anything. 

Walking back into the living room, you hand Rafe a beer and set down a plate of food in front of him. “Sorry it’s not much but it has been a little hard to go grocery shopping. Besides I’ve been giving most of my stuff to the people who have been fighting.”

“It’s fine.” 

You sit down on the couch beside Rafe. “Cheers mate. To somehow staying alive.” You clink bottles and take a swig of your beer.  
“So how did end up in the Ukraine? You don’t sound local.”

“I’m not. I got here because I was working for an international development organization as a field analysis and investigator. I would assess situations and try to locate certain people, places or objects that could help in a situation. Pretty damn good at it too. But the revolution began and everyone left. There wasn’t a need for my job anymore but I decided to stay here and help the locals.” 

“Mhhmm.”

“What?”

“How would you like a job?”

You can’t help but raise your eyebrows at him. He just met you and now he’s offering you a job? “Are you serious?”

“Yes. I was here looking for a specific artifact but the trail ran dry. I hate to admit it but I need help finding it and you just described the exact kind of person I need. Plus you can hold your own in a fight and you saved my ass. I could use you.”

Now you’re the one staring at Rafe. Could you leave the Ukraine? Well there was nothing left for you here, not anymore. This could be the break you need. Besides how hard could it be to find a little artifact and it certainly would be less dangerous than staying here.

“I’ll do it.”

“Excellent. We will start as soon as we get out of here.”

“Awesome! I will let Alexi know that I will be leaving with you.” You can’t help but smile at Rafe. You feel excited for the first time in a while. “What are we looking for?”

“How much do you know about Henry Avery?”


	2. There are Worlds to See, Lands Unknown & the Open Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for all the kind words! They mean so much to me!

Six months have come and gone with no luck of finding Henry Avery’s cross or any leads to his treasure. It was driving you up the wall. You, Rafe and Nadine’s army spent months searching Turkey, Greece and all the countries of the former Yugoslavia with no luck. Almost all trails had run dry. You were currently in Istanbul doing some research and recon, but it was starting to look like a dead end. Getting frustrated at still having no lead, you were about the throw the book you were reading but were interrupted by Rafe coming in your hotel room. He walks up silently and proceeds to throw down a brown file folder onto the table in front of you.

“What’s this?” you ask him, raising your eyebrows in question.

“Someone I want you to find. He’s an old associate of mine and an expert on Henry Avery. If anyone can find it, he can.”

“Then why haven’t we talked to him before?”

“Because the last time I heard of his whereabouts, he was in a Panama prison. There is also a large possible that he’s dead.”

“What’s he in prison for?”

“Murder.”

“Murder?! Seriously Rafe. Are you sure this guy is safe to be around?”

“Yes darling. Now find him for me. This is what I’m paying you for sweetheart. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to go talk to Nadine.”

Rafe left you alone in the hotel room with your thoughts. You reach over to the table and open the brown file folder and plopping down onto the couch. Looking through it you can tell there’s not much there. Only a few piece of paper with very little information on them. Oh boy. This was going to be a little difficult but you were determined to find him. You want to stay on Rafe’s good side and he was only getting more and more impatient with you since you haven’t been able to locate the cross.

“Mhmm. What do I have here to go off of?”

_Samuel Drake. Born in 1970._

“So he’s 41.”

_Height is 6 feet and 3 inches. His body type is athletic and approximately one hundred and eighty pounds._

Tall and fit. Just my type. Brain no. Don’t go down that road. He’s in prison for murder and almost twice your age.

_Hair and eye colour are brown._

Oh god, why does he sound so cute? Nope, you’re not doing that brain. You can just stop right there.

_Last known location is Panama Correctional Prison. He’s a well known thief and treasure hunter in his time. Always was an excellent asset to have on a job._

Of course.

_Competent marksmen, climber and brawler. Also and adept driver and motorcyclist._

This Samuel guy is really starting to sound like someone you used to know.

_Heavy smoker, incredibly charming and a sarcastic ass._

He defiantly has similar qualities to your old ‘friend’. Re-reading over Rafe’s notes, you couldn’t help but laugh at the last comment written down by Rafe. ‘Sarcastic ass’ _,_ you haven’t met the guy but it sounded like he was a good asset to have. But you were unsure about how comfortable you were with working with a murder. Not that you had much of a choice. There’s not much to go on but it’s a start. You open up your phone’s contact list and start calling all of people who have any knowledge or possible information in Latin America. Nothing to do now but hope for some luck.

* * *

Two weeks after your chat with Rafe, you and him were on your way to the Panamanian prison that Sam was being kept in. It took a lot of digging around and quite a few favours but finally one of your contacts was able to get you the correct information for the right guards to bribe.

You gave Rafe the information and he worked his money magic. Honestly, you didn’t want to know how much he was paying just to get this Sam guy out of prison but you guess it doesn’t matter in the end as long as he helps you find the treasure.

Now you’re sitting in the passenger seat of one of Rafe’s black sports cars about ten minutes away from the prison. You can’t help the knot in your stomach and the nervousness in your breath as you got closer. Your hands were clammy and the hair on the back of your neck was starting to stick due to sweat. The Panamanian sun defiantly wasn’t helping the situation but it couldn’t be the only thing to blame. Your mind keeps racing with how terrible this could go. Sure, you knew smugglers, freedom fighters, and even the odd mob boss but there was something different about this guy. There wasn’t much information on him and everyone you had talked to was keeping quiet. Whatever this guy did, they were trying to keep him hidden for a reason.

You’re brought out of your thoughts of contemplation when Rafe spoke up, “Don’t look so nervous. Everything is going to be fine.”

“Are you sure about this Rafe? This guy was extremely difficult to find for a reason. It was sheer luck and a lot of your money are the only reasons we found him. You said this guy killed someone. Shouldn’t we have Nadine or at least some of her guys with us?”

“You need to stop worrying so much. Beside Nadine has to deal with some of her goons and then continue supervising the search in Scotland.”

“My job is to worry Rafe. I’m an analysis. Your analysis, therefore, I make sure we’re prepared for all situations to go to complete shit. I also happen to have a lot of contacts and I’m good at finding stuff.”

“Too late for second thoughts as we are here.” Rafe puts the car to a stop in front of a large building that is surrounded by a tall brick fence and barbwire. There’s a very tall man, dressed in blue with a duffle bag standing outside the gate. “There’s Sam. Now be nice.”

You shoot Rafe a glare while speaking, “I’m always nice.”

“No, you’re always sarcastic. You and Sam are a lot alike.”

You can feel anger bubble in your chest at being compared to an inmate. “We are _nothing_ alike!”

“Okay, okay. Let’s just go say hello and try not to punch anyone.”

You huff in annoyance and get out of the car. Walking over to the strange man but staying behind Rafe, you were hit with a wave of heat and actively had to think to not throw up in front of the two men now standing directly in front of you. Still staying behind Rafe, you couldn’t help but notice that Sam was rather an attractive man for someone who was considerably older than you. Studying the older gentleman’s face you can see his has bird tattoos on his neck and the sides of his hair are just starting to show some grey. His eyes are a light brown, almost a hazel colour and his angular face is covered in stubble.

You can hear Rafe talking in the background, something about hellos and it’s good to see you again but you’re not really paying attention since you’re too distracted by the peculiar man in front of you. As you step slightly closer, you can now see the fine lines around his eyes and the crinkles that go horizontally a crossed his forehead. He has a bit of a crooked smile but it’s nice to look at.  You notice that you’re staring at him but he seems to be staring back at you. Feeling your cheek redden, you can’t help but look away, slightly out of embarrassment for ogling the stranger. “Smooth first impression,” you curse under breath. You hear him chuckle and it was a nice sound but it only caused your cheeks to redden more. Hopefully you can blame it on the heat.

Finally, you’re brought back to the present moment when you hear Rafe call your name and place a hand on you shoulder. “(y/n), this is Samuel Drake. Sam, this is (y/fn). She’s the reason I was able to find you after all these years.”

Sam reaches out to shake your hand and you extend yours out to his. His hand is much larger than yours and feels warm and rough against your skin. Sam’s grip is firm but gentle at the same time. He doesn’t squeeze so hard that it hurt. He gives you a warm smile that reaches his eyes and it cause your stomach to flip. “I suppose I owe you a thank you.”

You can’t help but let out a small chuckle, “I was just doing my job.”

“Well, thank you anyways.”

You hadn’t realised that you and Sam were still holding hands until Rafe let out of cough. “We should get going back to the hotel you two. We have a lot to discus and long flight to England.”

“What’s in England?” Sam questions.

Getting into the back seat of the car you begin to answer Sam’s question. “A NATO ship. While they were doing some sea training in the Atlantic Ocean, off of the English coast, they uncovered a sunken ship from around Henry Avery’s time. They were several maps and artifacts uncovered. Most of them miraculously undamaged by the water. By the description of some of the artifacts one could potentially be Henry Avery’s cross. You and I will be sneaking onto the ship to steal it or retrieve any information we can.”

Sam doesn’t say anything but nods his head in agreement. The rest of the ride back to the hotel was silent and slightly awkward. What do you say to a guy who’s been in prison for roughly 15 years? Arriving back to the hotel room, you place the blueprint of the ship out on the desk in front of you.

You look over at Sam and you can see that he looking all around the room. Almost as if he is unsure of what to do or marvelled at the place. “Sam, come over here and I’ll explain the plan a little better.”

He walks to stand beside you and you can feel the heat radiate off his body. He smells of dirt, sweat, cigarettes and something musky.

“When we arrive in England it’s going to be about four in the afternoon. That will give us enough time to grab our gear and meet my friend Alexi. We will then be driving to the dock where Rafe will be staying and keeping a lookout for anything out of the ordinary. Alexi is then going to be taking us out onto the ocean where he will get us to the boat as close as possible without raising suspicion. It will be around sunset; therefore, we will have the tactical advantage of not being seen.”

“Wait. Why not during night fall? Normally if you want something done that you don’t want seen, you wait till the lights are out.”

“But the lights won’t be out. At nighttime they have giant lights on to prevent this exact situation happening. The ship is practically a floating city, it’s so bright. Twilight makes it harder to see. We will still have the shadows to help hide us and the giant lights won’t have been turned on yet.”

“That makes sense.”

“So Sam, then you and I will be swimming the remainder of the way in scuba gear and climbing the left side of the ship here.” You point your finger at a certain location on the blueprint and look over to Sam to make sure he understands. He nods his head in agreement. “From this location, there should be a door on the deck that will get us into the lower levels, where they are keeping everything. I hope your lock picking skills haven’t gotten rusty while you were locked up since we will be needing them to proceed any further. Then we grab what we can, hopefully the cross, leave, and swim back to Alexi. Meet Rafe at the docks and figure out what next from there.”

“Sounds easy enough.”

“Good! Now go take a shower and change your clothes. Try to get some rest on the plane because we have a busy day tomorrow.”

“Try not to get caught tomorrow you two. We’re about to commit an international crime and being caught warrants life in prison in some black-site or execution. Let alone losing my only chance at finding Avery’s treasure”

“Thanks for the reminder Rafe,” you tell him in a sarcastic tone. “The though never crossed my mind before now. Let alone the concern you seem to have about the potential of us never being seen again.”  

“Yup, no pressure at all for the first day out of prison.”

“Anyways. Do what you need to do and meet me down in the lobby in exactly two hours. We have lots to do so don’t dare be late,” you tell the boys and walk out of the room to prepare yourself for the adventure ahead.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! So my Russian is not that great since I've only learned a little bit and I don't have the keyboard that can type in the Cyrillic alphabet. I hope you guys didn't mind! 
> 
> Also this is on my tumblr at http://natalya-romanova.tumblr.com/masterlist


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